F.A.Q.

Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions for First Generation Firebirds that have been asked and answered on FGF. Special thanks needs to be given to all the FGF members who took the time to respond to other member's questions.

Body - Emblems and Stripes

I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to do emblem restoration? Is this something I can do myself? I have all of the emblems except for the passenger side “Firebird” front emblem, and the “400” trunk emblem. All of the emblems are in decent shape — except all of the black/red paint isn’t there anymore. There is a bit of silver flaking on a couple of them, but nothing I really want to worry about right now.

Is this something I can do myself with a paintbrush? Are there specific colors I should get?

A: Unless your doing a Concourse restoration, close is good enough. Because of the size and distance, most people couldn’t tell if its not the perfect shade. I’ve panted emblems a couple of ways:

1- Clean well with lacquer thinner and an old tooth brush.

2- Choose your paint. I’ve used engine enamel and applied it with a fine paint brush. I’ve also applied it with an old WD-40 straw (I couldn’t find my brush). Make sure you put enough on the emblems to “flow” up to the edges.

2b- I’ve also used fingernail polish. It sounds strange but it comes with a brush, it’s enamel paint, and the colors are great. It’s a little thin so it may take two coats.

Good Luck.

A: I have done on a number of cars over the years. It works and last a long time.

Remove all the old paint.

Wash with paint thinner, then mild detergent

Dry

Take a pan tin, turn it upside down and punch holes to fit the emblems prongs

Place emblems, letters etc in tim and paint. if it requires more than one color do only one at a time.

Prewarm an oven to 250 degrees

Place tin with emblems in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove and let cool.

After all color painting is complete brush on a clear coat and bake it for 10 minutes.

The heat bakes and smooths the paint. I just saw a vette I restored in ’91 and the emblems looked like new. (no he had not replaced them)

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Hey guys, I searched the archives but could not find info about reworking the 3.8 Liter OHC hood emblems. Is it possible and who does it. Thanks

A: There are still lots of 3.8 liter hood emblems left out there NOS… I ve been looking for 4.1s but it seems I always found 3.8 ones. PS dont bother reworking them its just not feasible.

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Today I found the grille emblem for my bird in the trunk, instead of “Firebird” it says “Custom”. I suppose this was part of the pink mist package, has anybody seen this before?

A: This emblem could have come off several locations which might be determined by the type of fastener used for the “Custom” emblem. Possible locations include the hood emblems (used 8-9420185 Nuts for “Overhead Cam”), the front fender emblems (used 6-9420621 Nuts for “Firebird”), front grill emblems (used 2-9789188 Brackets and 2-9785896 Retainers for “Pontiac”) (least likely), the trunk emblems (used 2-9421827 Nuts for “400”), or rocker panel emblems (used 4-9420621 Nuts for “Sprint”)(most likely). I have not seen this before but it could have been a part of the special paint package (Pink Mist) your car came with that year. This would be identified on your body tag with the paint code ‘special.’

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Does anyone have a template for mounting a 400 trunk emblem to a 1968 firebird? I think it is right above the reverse light on the passenger side, but I would like to have factory dimensions. Any help would be appreciated.

A: I found a dimension template that you might be able to use on the Generation-1 Registry web site.

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Does anyone have a template for mounting a 400 bumper emblem on a 1968 Firebird?

A: I found a dimension template for the 1967 – 1968 400 bumper emblem that you might be able to use on the Generation-1 Registry web site.

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The nose emblem that was on my ‘original’ bumper was a cast piece of metal that was lightly polished and had a rubber surround gasket that was removable. I ordered emblems from both Year One and The Paddock, and one was made of rubber, the other was cast plastic. I sent them both back because I can’t believe that GM would put junk like that on their premium 400 cars.

A: The correct, original Emblem for the 1967-1968 Firebird 400 Frt. Bumper is infact a molded hard-rubber part. There is a steel reinforcement insert inside of it which the mounting studs attach to but there is no metal visible. The metal ‘Crest’ Emblem you refer to was only used on certain Full-Size Pontiacs & Grand Prixs. The correct Emblem you need is only available as repro. Quality is supposedly ok. Early repro parts exhibited very poor shape & fit.

A: Ijust installed the repro I bought from Ames and it’s not bad. The outward apearance is very good. The only part I didn’t like is that the original has some extruded rubber surrounding the studs that make it fit just right in the holes on the bumper where as the repro does not so you have to center it by eye and then tighten it down. No biggie but I don’t think it would have cost them that much more to add to the mold.

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Did all 1st generation Firebirds that came with 400 engines have all the exterior “400” badging and 400 scoop hoods (except 1967 hoods)?

A: The “400” option on the 1967-1969 Firebirds included exterior badging (Decklid, Hood “400” emblems), Scooped (closed) Hood and of course, the 400 engine. This option also included chrome moldings in the middle of the Grills for the 1967-1968 and a Pontiac Crest emblem on the Front Bumper for all 3 years.

A: You forgot the 1969’s also had chrome molding in the grilles. It rimmed the “grille” (the actual opening). This did not include the 1969 Trans Ams with the blacked out grilles. Also, the 400’s for all 3 years had chrome air cleaner lids and valve covers, and dual exhausts. Floor shift was part of the standard 3 speed trans deal, unless automatic was specified but not the console.

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What is the correct style for my 1968? I heard there were to versions: Finger pull or flat

A: All 1968 Firebirds had the ‘finger-lift’ feature built into the Emblem meaning, the Emblem is not flat but has an opening under the tail for your finger. This emblem is available as a reproduction. The flat-design Fuel Door ‘Bird’ Emblem was used in 1967 though, some late 1967’s began using the finger-lift version. This emblem is also available.

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The nose emblem that was on my ‘original’ bumper was a cast piece of metal that was lightly polished and had a rubber surround gasket that was removable. I ordered emblems from both Year One and The Paddock, and one was made of rubber, the other was cast plastic. I sent them both back because I can’t believe that GM would put junk like that on their premium 400 cars.

A: The correct, original Emblem for the 1967-1968 Firebird 400 Frt. Bumper is infact a molded hard-rubber part. There is a steel reinforcement insert inside of it which the mounting studs attach to but there is no metal visible. The metal ‘Crest’ Emblem you refer to was only used on certain Full-Size Pontiacs & Grand Prixs. The correct Emblem you need is only available as repro. Quality is supposedly ok. Early repro parts exhibited very poor shape & fit.

A: I just installed the repro I bought from Ames and it’s not bad. The outward apearance is very good. The only part I didn’t like is that the original has some extruded rubber surrounding the studs that make it fit just right in the holes on the bumper where as the repro does not so you have to center it by eye and then tighten it down. No biggie but I don’t think it would have cost them that much more to add to the mold.

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Did all 1st generation Firebirds that came with 400 engines have all the exterior “400” badging and 400 scoop hoods (except 1967 hoods)?

A: The “400” option on the 1967-1969 Firebirds included exterior badging (Decklid, Hood “400” emblems), Scooped (closed) Hood and of course, the 400 engine. This option also included chrome moldings in the middle of the Grills for the 1967-1968 and a Pontiac Crest emblem on the Front Bumper for all 3 years.

A: You forgot the 1969’s also had chrome molding in the grilles. It rimmed the “grille” (the actual opening). This did not include the 1969 Trans Ams with the blacked out grilles. Also, the 400’s for all 3 years had chrome air cleaner lids and valve covers, and dual exhausts. Floor shift was part of the standard 3 speed trans deal, unless automatic was specified but not the console.

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2) The 1968 Firebird Dealer Order Form lists option 494 (Rally Stripe) as available on all except with option 344 (350 H.O.) since 344 came std. with the stripes.

3) The 400 H.O. did not come standard with the Rally Stripes but one could order them according to Sales literature.

4) The 1968 Parts Catalog lists part numbers for Black, Red & White “H.O.” Stripes as well as the plain stripes (front fender).

5) The “Generation-1” Firebird Registry has several members with original, documented “Rally Stripes” including 350, 400, H.O. and even a Ram Air I car.

6) The Body Broadcast Sheet lists the (3) different color codes for the Rally Stripe.

A: the stripe for the 350 HO was an HO stripe. You are correct in the colors, red ,white and black. All colors were closely coordinated with paint and interior color combos. i.e. white car and parchment(white) interior wouldnt get an ivory stripe. As I stated before only the 350 HO was avaliable (and standard equiptment) with HO stripes. Any other engine combo got the Ralley stripe for a mere $14.74 extra. You could do a delete on the HO stripes (350 HO CARS) but it was a no cost no refund item. The orginals were vinyl and held up very well, still have the orginals on my 1967 Sprint.One of the best ways to see if your car was equipted with the HO 326 and had the stripes is spend $35 for PHS to verify….. Unless you can find the build sheet.

A: the ralley stripe option. This was avaliable in 67-8 on any engine combo except the HOs. The ralley stripe is sometimes called “SPRINT” stripes by mistake…does anyone on list have an orginal 400 ( or anything except an HO) with the ralley stripes? Many people dont realize that it could be got that way.

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I’m considering painting the H.O. stripes on my 1968 coupe, instead of using the decals.

A: if you are afraid of the stripes faiding,try this tick I learned when I worked in a body shop.apply the decals before you clearcoat and then proceed with the paint job as normal,they will not fade.

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I have a 1968 FB 400 Convertiable Verdero Green with Ivy Gold Interior; and supposed to have gold top (now black; couldn’t locate gold); the car is a 400 HO with automatic trans and air conditioning. The question that I have is whether or not my car is supposed to have HO stripes or whether they were an option. The packet from PHS does not list optional stripes so unless all HO cars had them I dont believe that mine should–any help would be appreciated.

A: The only H.O.s that got the H.O. stripes were the 1967 326 H.O. and the 1968 350 H.O. The 400 H.O.s could have been ordered with the Rally stripes but it wouldnt have had the letters “H.O.” on the front fenders as the smaller V-8 H.O.s had. If you got the Billing History from PHS and its blank in the 494 column then your car wasnt ordered with Rally Stripes.

Another note is that the 326/350 H.O.s and Tempest/LeMans Sprints could have the stripes that were standard equipment deleted (not used). This would show up as column 491 of the Billing History. It was a no credit option delete.

These stripes were color coordinated to complement interior/exterior combinations. A good example is a black car with black interior. It wouldnt get a black stripe but instead got an ivory stripe. If a black car had red interior it would get a red stripe. Etc. The three colors avaliable thru out the years were red,ivory and black.

You can be creative and put H.O. on a 400 car, I have a friend who thought the same as you and did this on a 400 convertible. He later upgraded the powertrain to a R/A and had the words RamAir made into the same strpes. Keep in mind that none of this is correct but 99.9% of the admirers thought that it was. I have another idea thats a variation of that… My sons 1968 Firebird coupe is red/ black vinyl top and interior. I am making a set of rally stripes in black that will use the word “Sprint” from the 68-9 Tempest /LeMans Sprint. So other than the attentive list members I doubt that anyone will pick up on this. Have your fun and make the car the way you want. A set of stripes is easily removed and if the proper material is used wont harm a decent paint job.

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What is the difference between the Ralley Stripes and the H.O. stripes?

A: The H.O. stripes are very similar but not the same as the ralley stripes. The ralley stripes were avaliable on all 67-8s EXCEPT 326 and 350 H.O.s. These stripes used the same door and rear 1/4 stripes, but the fender stripe was continuous in the center portion instead of having the letters H.O.

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Was there a specific stripe for Sprint Firebirds or did they receive the optional Rally Stripe?

A: Actually the 1967-19688 Firebird stripes were called “Rally Stripes” and were avaliable on any model except the 326/350 H.O. cars(which got the H.O. stripes as standard equiptment).The misnomer of Sprint birds having “Sprint stripes” was spawned in part to the picture in “The Fabulous Firebird” book by Michael Lamm. The other was the Tempest/LeMans Sprints had them as standard equiptment. This then carried on to the suppliers /retailers calling them Sprint Firebird stripes.

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Inyour expert opinion what is the best way to replace the H.O. stripes?? Obviously they are available in all catalogs as decals as original. Do the decals hold up? I have also heard people say to apply the decal prior to the clearcoat on a new paint job to also preserve the stripe, I have also heard of painting them on.

A: I dont know what the others are using for material… Ive seen some piss poor copies of HO stripes but wont get into that here. I do know that the factory used 3M Scotchcal vinyl. 3M is in my opinion still the best thing going 35 years later. I still have the orginal Sprint stripes on my 1967 Tempest Sprint, and it hasn’t had the best of care (My wife once scrubbed the car with soft scrubb) They are weathered and scratched but it is testament to the abuse that good vinyl will take.

3M now has a high performance vinyl with a UV coating built into it. I wouldnt advise clear coating over the stripe as the vinyl will expand and contract at a different rate than the metal and paint. This would then promote cracking under the clear and would make a real big mess when trying to repair/replace any portion of the stripes.

As for the idea to extend the life of well kept vinyl, how much longer would you expect? BTW these arent decals they are vinyl appliques (just a fancy word for stripes). As for the painting of the stripes in lieu of vinyl, thats your choice. I will tell you that the 3M vinyl is only 2 mils thick and paint at that thickness is almost transparent. You also wont get the crisp detail and edges with a paint on job vs a die cut vinyl stripe.

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A: Part of a proper restoration or just for a daily driver is to replace all decals and labels. Starting in 1968 there was an emission /tune up label on all Firebirds. This was on the front bumper upper structure. I havent seen any proper reproductions of this tune up decal for 68s as it was a clear decal with white lettering as to be placed over the black painted area of the bumper assembly. I do have some NOS ones that I will one day use as a pattern for the proper reproduction. The 1969 are different than the 68s but the content is the same.

Another label thats out there is the spare tire inflator canister label. This too is incorrect but is a close copy. Rich has so graciously loaned his original canister to me to make a proper copy. After countless hours of having my computer crash while in the design stages, its finally done. I guess I could have just stuck one of these Osborne labels on and no one would have noticed. But its the striving for perfection that drives most of us to do the silly little details. Perhaps I can seek professional help on this like they do in Hollywood.

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